Frequently we are starting an endeavor and from the start we encounter strong resistance to our efforts,

not even from people but from circumstances around us.

Are those Obstacles the Sign from Above that we are on a wrong path and should use our resources differently?

or, may be otherwise, those obstacles are simply an opposition to holiness and should be fought tooth and nail until they are overcome ?

The answer depends on where the opposition comes from.

If the source of the opposition is our own soul, then we are on the wrong path and need to quickly re-route our efforts into other channels.

If however the source of the opposition is the Other side, one definitely needs to add more efforts to break through the obstacles no matter the cost!

The question is: how to distinguish between the two?

Simple but fool-proof answer is Tefilla, tefilla that is properly directed and not highjacked by the ego.

We need to divest ourselves from ego to the maximum and direct our prayer to empower our soul, asking to clarify the situation.

Our current goal in question should become completely irrelevant for us during this Tefillah, as our only desire should be to submit our will to One Above and channel our energy for our Soul’s disposal.

If after that we see the obstacles weaken or disappear, we know to add more efforts to achieve our goal and break the opposition.

If however, our soul  was the source of the blockage, we will see clearly that the  endeavor is to be abandoned.

To arrive to this clarity however the Tefillah has to be structured  properly – under no circumstances we should pray for the obstacles to disappear on that first stage -

not even a hint of this desire should be in our Tefillah, or it can lead to  misleading results.

After we had confirmed that our goal is positive from Hashem’s perspective, we can and should use Tefillah to achieve it with all our energy, with both physical and spiritual effort.

This principle is simple enough, however to actually apply it on a daily basis, we need to start seeing the situation in perspective.

We need to learn to stop before we throw all our resources against any opposition we meet,

being that people or circumstances, and check: do we really fight the right party ?

Do we have a hard time because our ego is having major fun here? Do we battle our own soul?

The above might look a bit simplistic since it doesn’t address the subconscious blocks and programs,

this topic however is for another post.

Connection · Divine Providence · HASHEM · Ish Tam · Meditation · obstacle · Prayer · Soul · Tefillah

Below are some very practical meditations that help to experience and live the holiness of Shabbat - in a very real way.

Shabbat Shalom!

SHABBAT MEDITATIONS

by Kabbalist Rav Yitzchak Schwartz

What follows is a number of Shabbat meditations and a short summary of the Torah principles which they are based on.

All of these meditations are drawn from a series of Shabbat essays taught by the previous Slonimer Rebbe (Zatzal) in the second volume of his work Netivot Shalom.  The common thread running  through all of his essays (and I have only chosen a select few) is consciousness … the unique sublime Garden of Eden consciousness that we all can get a taste of in this world with a concerted effort…… and thereby sensitize ourselves to a life of true paradise in this world and in the next one.

I hope that by practicing these meditations we can open up more and more of this sensitivity.

1. ASCENT MEDITATION

(An introductory meditation or mind state which is the root of all the other meditations and mind states).  The Kabbalah teaches that starting on Friday afternoon and culminating towards the end of Shabbat, there occurs “Aliyat Olamot” – “Ascent of the Worlds”.  The imagery presented to us is that of one world rising or elevating against a backdrop of its present placement up to a realm which is above any type of negativity whatsoever.  Practically speaking, this can be experienced as an ever deepening state of awareness of one’s soul and the removal, layer after layer of all that which separates it from the Master of the Universe.

********Focus on your present state of being, physically, emotionally, spiritually etc.  See yourself now entering into a sort of cosmic elevator which climbs incrementally from one floor of a tall building to the next higher one to the next etc etc until it reaches the top.

Every time that elevator climbs up a few floors, focus again on the various aspects of your state of being, and allow yourself to experience a pure and holy state of being, stripped of all pretence and falseness and negativity ….focus on how this  consciousness saturates you through and through and allows you to experience your inner Divine self.

Allow more and more of this pure holy positive Divine energy to saturate you more and more as the elevator climbs.

2. THE RETROACTIVE FUSION MEDITATION

When one is privileged to experience a higher state of being, they feel as if all that they do and accomplish, is not really them at all, but rather Hashem doing it through them.  This is not only true of their present state of being, but is also true with regard to what they can recall of their past accomplishments.

********Focus on a list of the highlights of your previous weeks – either based on a written one, or a stream of thought recollection that you do in your mind right now.

First see every detail and feeling of your week’s highlights or main accomplishments as being that of your own doing.

Then reframe every aspect of every accomplishment as being infused, enabled and empowered by The Master of the Universe.

3. THE EVERYTHING IS PERFECT MEDITATION

Shabbat is a mindset that is patterned after a future era when there will be nothing lacking, not in people nor in anything else.  All will be experienced as being whole and perfect just as it is, and there will be no need to rectify anything or anyone else including ourselves.

*******Focus on seeing everyone in your life in their perfected state;  First scan the people you know (start  with one or two and expand your list), and foresee or project what they will be like when they eventually reach their state of perfection.

Then project how differently you will relate to them when you are seeing them in this state.

Next see even their areas of lack as being stepping stones towards their perfection.

Finally, in real life, relate to these people as if you already see them in their perfected state.

Do the same entire process for yourself.

4.       THE PLEASURE (Oneg) MEDITATION

Rebbe Shlomo of Karlin Ob’m taught what was overheard, being declared in the heavenly realms, an extremely important lesson;  ‘‘Even if a person is very careful to observe all of the positive and negative commandments of Shabbat in all of their fine detail (and to properly observe these Mitzvot in all of their fine detail is of utmost importance, of utmost severity and requires a huge investment of energy), but nevertheless do not make a concerted effort in this life to feel or to experience at all the sweetness and pleasure of the Shabbat, so too, when they get upstairs in their post life eternal environment, they will not experience this pleasure and will rather be like an unfeeling bench!’’  This is because the atmosphere of the spiritual strata is filled with only pleasure and happiness, and if one doesn’t condition oneself to this atmosphere now, how will they be sensitized to it in the future?!

********Focus on taking pleasure on:

THE PAST:            All the accomplishments that Hashem allowed you to accomplish last week.

THE PRESENT:    All the physical delights of the day – eating, sleeping breathing and other bodily pleasures as well as spiritual pleasures.

THE FUTURE:      Ask that Hashem should surprise and delight you for the remainder of the day.

5. THE REBIRTH MEDITATION

When we are plugged in to the true energy of Shabbat, i.e., being so much in Devakut in a fused clinging state with Hashem that we know that anything we do or want that is against Hashem’s will is not really our will, but something external to ourselves, then Shabbat provides us with a similar effect as that of Yom Kippur – a cleansing, purifying atoning, rebirth effect.

********Plug in to how Shabbat allows me to connect with my true Ratzon (primal will)…. and see that it is truly an extension of G-d’s Will, and all that I do, or have done in the past that is not on this pure Divine fused soul level, is not the real me, but something external to me.

Now focus on how this mindset infuses me with a spiritual purity and cleansing that ultimately enables me to feel like I am being reborn.

6. THE EXTRA SOUL MEDITATION

We receive a gift on Shabbat —a gift referred to as an Extra Soul [Neshama Yetyairah]……the Verse says that upon completion of the initial Creation process Hashem rested—the word describing this Divine Rest, is ‘VAYINAFASH’—-this represents a state of mind , where one’s Soul takes center stage—where one is primally motivated on Soul matters, such as one’s Eternal Divine purpose , life force, mission and pleasure…..the Kabbalists inform us that there are  actually real Souls from the Garden of Eden that come into us and fill us up with their presence for the duration of the Shabbat

*********At the beginning of Shabbat and through out the night and day, be present to the inner elevated feeling that  you experience-your ‘Neshama Yetairah’—-notice how the way that you relate to others to yourself , to G-d and to life in general is elevated….Cultivate this experience—notice how one Shabbat’s ‘Extra soul’ feeling is different than another Shabbat….notice how this Extra soul goes through a growth process on Shabbat itself, and how this experience relates very much to your previous week, and how, by being present with  this experience, you can actually draw it into your upcoming

7. THE RAAVA D’RAAVIM [WILL OF WILLS] MEDITATION

Before departing Shabbat, we reach the culmination point—the highest ascent of consciousness….This state of being comes at the time when the sun is going down and the light of day grows dim and there is an internal knowledge that the power of the day will soon be taken away from us—and we will be called upon to jump into the cloudiness and darkness of the weekday world, where we must constantly cope with trials and tribulations to the best of our creative abilities……..so our hearts open up with the deepest of yearnings —a yearning to be able to stay here alone in the Presence of the Lord, and at the same time, a yearning to be able to draw upon all of the insights and heart-openings that we experience right now—into the coming week

*********As the Holy Shabbat day draws to a close, allow yourself to feel a deep yearning welling up inside of you—a yearning to return to the Divine womb….a yearning to constantly be inside of Shabbat…. A yearning to cling to Hashem constantly with every thread of your being…. A yearning to be able to draw from all the highest times [such as this present moment], into the low times [such as the weekday-relative to Shabbat]—to draw down  all of the feelings and insights and love and awakeness.

Aliyat Olamot · ascent · Garden of Eden · HASHEM · Meditation · Neshama Yetairah · Netivot Shalom · Oneg · Pleasure · Rebbe Shlomo of Karlin · Rebirth · sensitivity · Shabbat · Slonimer Rebbe · Soul · Will · Yom Kippur

Establishing the successful communication with the soul also requires overcoming erroneous expectations that literally close from us the real paths of connection.

One of those myths is that once soul communication is functioning, you have a video stream of information filling your mind with amazing revelations, or voice resolving your dilemmas, or …. you fill the blanks.

This would be nice but most of us simply don’t have the minds and souls developed enough for the intensity of communication like that. In reality our soul communicates in much more subtle ways. The blessing and the issue at the same time is that many people already do hear their soul, they, just don’t realize that. The barrier in this case is simply self-made. We are constantly receiving a lot of information beyond our five senses; however most of us simple learned to tune it out from conscious awareness.

With this in mind, carefully examine and re-evaluate the input you are receiving:

Body signals:

Body Signals are another way our soul communicates to us – we need to develop sensitivity to this non-verbal language our Neshama uses. Examples might include throat tightening or choking when saying something inappropriate at the moment, eye or hand lightly twitching (frequently right one signifies “Yes” and the left one “No” to the thought that is currently passing through your mind), or feeling of warmth lighting up in your heart. Whatever the physical signal is, it’s only important in the context of what is happening at he moment.

Synchronicity:

Frequently the sigh or indication comes as “synchronicity” – meaningful “coincidence” of events in our life, for example turning on the radio and having talk-show host to answer the question you just asked in your mind.

It’s important to distinguish those events from the superstitions they told you. Actually those superstitions might have been a part of someone’s “communication system” – it’s just they loose any meaning once they are out of context. So unless you are sure your soul picked up one of those superstitions to really consistently communicate something to you – take them easy.

I remember many years ago I had a “three-times rule” – if I get three seemingly unconnected events point to something, I’d give it a thought. Gradually I started to see if it’s meaningful with less prompting, the a “three-times rule” become a “two-times rule” and afterwards one can learn to view events as they happen with deeper realization what they mean – the repetition becomes unnecessary.

Connection · Divine Providence · Ish Tam · Neshamah · Soul · Superstitions · Synchronicity · Unconscious

How to establish the connection with own Soul?

There are many reasons and possible answers to that question,

in this posting I will focus on one of the most fundamental reasons most of us are not connected 24/7

and suggest a practical way to deal with the situation.

Subsequent postings will look at the question from other angles.

So, Why don’t most of us by default have a connection to our Neshama?

The primary reason is that we are too absorbed in our ego-drives to hear it.

It’s hard to get rid of them immediately forever, but we can temporary shift them to “the back of our mind”.

Obviously this requires minimal control over one’s thoughts – but it can be achieved with some meditation training

(Brainwave Entrainment music can give a good start to people having trouble even initiating the practice).

If we divest ourselves from all our concerns, worries, fears, attachments and pleasures only for a few minutes, we can create an opening for our Neshama to squeeze in a thought or two into our mind .

This approach works for some, others meditate till they turn blue, and still all they hear is silence and their own thoughts breaking in

Let’s address it in the subsequent postings.

Connection · Ish Tam · Meditation · Neshamah · Soul

Why do we want to connect to our Soul?

Most people use one or another approach for a guidance system to navigate though life.

Some use a mentor, frequently in the context of an ideology.

Still others use the internal connection, again often combined with a form of ideology.

However, no believe system can give us a GPS-like directions through life, and no mentor can do it for you either.

The question: “What do I do in this particular situation?” Is usually resolved by people either by following purely rational logical train of thought (heavily influenced by subconscious mind, which most have no idea about) or by trying to see the situation though the lenses of particular ideology, which hopefully takes more accurate picture of the reality.

The logical pathway usually doesn’t work too well, because people tend to take into account very negligible number of factors leaving out most real “situation makers” and also because the subconscious bias frequently makes a joke out of this “logic”.

Following a form of ideology that has developed solution templates might work better,

Especially if this ideology survived a few thousand years and helped it’s adherents to survive as well.

Still, too often those pathways leave us grasping for the ultimate answer to the question:

“How do I really know which decision is right?”

The great news is that we all have our own GPS with complete map of our life and almost unlimited (compare to our constricted feelings) visibility.

Our soul provides us with Divine Providence in our lives, however extent of this guidance depends on us: our actions, emotions, speech and thoughts.

How do we “turn on” the system and make it work? How do we make the connection to our soul?

We will continue in the next post.

Connection · Divine Providence · GPS · Ish Tam · Neshamah · Soul